Burglar-proof arrangement for the protection of bank clerks



Aug. 4, 1931. c. B. BORMANN BURGLARPROOF ARRANGEMENT FOR PROTECTION OF BANK CLERKS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 1, 1930.

JNVENTOR. [5 -1- (La 5. 3

4, ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug."4, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,CARL B. BORMANN, OF WESTWOOD, NEW JERSEY Application filed. July 1, 1930. Serial No. 465,155.

My invention has for its object to provide a burglar-proof arrangement for protecting bank c'lerksagai'nst hold-up men. The arrangement is so designed that the bank clerk b is at :all 'times effectively guarded against sudden attacks or bullets while ;left-= entirely freeto transact anyibusiness with the person infront of his window.

Tothisend I provideua movable guard-in lwfronttofthe window, behind which the clerk has his place so that said guard whenzoccupying its raised position prevents anyfaccess to the opening below rthe window, .-a swinging guard-plate 'suspendedback of the winlli dow so as'to prevent anybullet from reaching the clerk when said movable guard is iniits lowere'd position, .and:a 'fiat slide or tray arranged to operate said movable guard and equipped with an .upward extension to bear :against said swinging guardeplate, so as to entirely close the opening below .the window, *whenthe' movable guard in front of the window is in'the lowered position. The window itselfiis' made of bulleteproof glass and mounted in the :hollow frame so as 'to leav'e on: either side an open space for the sound-waves to pass from the bank clerk to the person outside the window and vice versa. 7 V i i On the annexed drawings, on whielnlfor I the-sake of a complete: understanding ofthe invention,'I haveshown, by way of illustration, 'a-n embodiment thereof, Fig.1 is a vertical-sectional view'through a bank-clerl'rs window showing the new arrangement with the movable guard in'raised position; Fig. 2is a*horizontal section along line -22 in I Fig. 1, the new arrangementbe'ing shown idtop' plan View; Fig. 3'is afragment of the "windowand the arrangement as viewed from theleft in Fig. 1; "Fig543is a view similar toFig. 2, showing" the parts in adifferentposition, i. c. with the ,movableguard in the lowered position the section being taken alongline-r4+4-in Figa5; Fig. '5. is a similarviewasIFig. 1, showing themovable guard 'inits lowered position? and the slide or tray in its extreme forward position. Fig.

6' is v a sectional detail: to more clearly show the mounting of the glass-pane, the section beingtaken along line 66 in Fig. ,5.

in Figs. .1 and 5, 1 denotes a portionof the partition which separates the clerical force from the public, forming the cage, in which the clerk'takes his position. 2 is the frame containing the window-mounting 3 which,

y as willbemore clearly seen from Figs. 2 and 4,15 111ade upof U'-shaped uprights 4: and5, in which is mounted a bulletproof window pane 6 which is'held inithe said uprightsiby short bolts 7, washers 8 being interposed as shown. As will be clearly seen from Figs. 2 and 4, the width ofthe window pane is so selected that an open space is left all around to permit tl1&.SOl1IlCl-,W. VBS t O"PflSS from the inside ofthe cage to theoutside, and viceversa, so as to enable conversation to be carried on. Against the loweriends' of the said uprights .bears "horizontallydisposed glass-plate-9 which isheld ina frame-part 10 having a depending portionll.

.At 12 is shown, a movableguard of sectorshaped cross-section madeioi' heavy sheetmetal. This guard'is pivotally held in the w frame 2 at 1:3 and when in its raised position is adapted to bea-rwith its cylindrical surface against the depending portion 11 ,of the franie-partlO. To the flat portiongl i of. said movable guard 12, is secured at one end thereof anarm 1.5 fOI' tlIG purpose hereafterdescribed.

-On a rail shown at 1,6 is pivoted a leverarm17 in; such a position relative'to said armjl5 13S to cooperate therewith when thek movable guard v12 has been movedto its a raised position shown. in;Fig. 1. A'hel-ical springshown at 18, in Figs. 1- ail-d5: tends to move the lever-arm 17' to; the, positionshown invFigs. 1 and 2. At 19 and 20.,are shown hor-r izontally. disposed guideri'a-ils. fora movable tray :shown at-2l, which, atits inner end,- is provided witha handle 221and an upward, projection 23. To, the bottom of said tray is secured a straight cam-piece 24. At 25, a: slotiis shown in the tray adapted to receive the arm 15 of, the movable guard,12,;,as.,the tray is outwardly movedg toward the right in Figs. 1. andf2, bynieans ofiits-l' andle22.

At 26 is-shown; aguard-plate,-also made of heavy sheet-metal and pivotally suspended from a rod 27 so that thelower portion of said guard-plate projects downwardly over part of the open space below the glass-. plate 9.

From the foregoing description, the operation of the device will-be readily understood.

The various parts, it will be assumed, oc-

cupy the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which the movable guard 12 is shown raised, while the tray'21 occupies its extreme inwardposition, the guard-plate 26 hanging straight down from the rod 27. In this posi tion, all access from theoutside of the cage is effectively prevented by the movable guard 12 closing the entire opening and being held in said position by the spring 18, by means of the'lever arm 17 extending over the arm 15 of the movable guard 12. Now, when a person appears in front of the window and wishes to pass anything to the bank clerk,

seated behind the window, the clerk pushes the tray 21 outward, that is, toward the right in Fig. 1, the'tra'y being evenly guided by the guide-rails 19' and 20. As the slot 25 in the tray passes over the arm 15, the latter projects into said slot and consequently, as the movement of the'tray toward the right in Fig. 1 continues, the guard 12, by means of said arm 15 islgradually turned into the lowered position shown in Fig. 5, the arm 15' ofsaid guard then assuming the upright position shown in Fig. 5. By the lowering of the'guard 12 the open space under the glass plate 9 isexposed and any papers, e. g. a pass-book, or the like, can be placed on the tray'21, while the latter occupies the position shown in Fig. 5. As the tray 21 was being moved into this position, the cam 24 on the bottom of said 'tray pushed aside the lever arm 17 against the tension of spring 18 to permit the arm 15 of the movable guard 12 to completely enterthe slot-'25 in the tray, and while the leverarml'? was thus pushed aside by the cam 24, the helical spring 18 became stretched and thus was placed under tension. l f I While the open space under the glassplate 9 is exposed, any access to theinside of the clerks cage'is yet effectively prevented by the straight guard plate '26 against which bears the upright projection 23 of the tray 21, asclearly shown in Fig. 5. The guardplate 26'being made of heavy sheet-metal, i

no bullet can reach the clerk from the outside. As the tray 21 is pulled back by the clerk, or in other words, moved again toward the left in Fig. 5, the arm 15 of the Jfront guard 12 is engaged by the slot 25 in the tray which thereby forces the arm 15 down, thus gradually raising the guard 12 to the position shown in Fig. 1. 'VVhile the tray is being returned to the position shown in Fig. 1, the straight cam 24 on the bottom of the tray is drawn away from the lever-arm against any fire-arms which might be levelled against him. a j v V The bullet-proof glass-pane 6 being mounted in a hollow frame with an open space all around it, sound-waves can freely pass to the outside'of thewindow, and vice versa.

Needless to say, the embodiment as shown in the drawings, can be modified in various ways without departing from the invention as above described, the object being to at all times effectively protect the 1 bank-clerk against any sudden attacksfrom burglars, or hold-up men.

I claim: I

1. In combination with a bank-clerks window, a movable guard pivotally mounted in front of the window and provided with'an arm, a spring-controlled means normally engaging said arm to thereby hold said guard in ralsed position, a movable tray havinga slot disposed to engage said arm, and a cam on the bottom of said tray adapted to engage said spring-controlled means so as to release said armpermitting said movable. guardto V be moved to itslowered position.

' 2. In combination with a bank-clerks window, a movable guard pivotally mounted in front of the window and provided with an arm, a spring-controlled means normally engaging said arm to thereby hold said guard in raised position, a movable tray having a slot disposed to engage said arm, and a cam on the bottom of said tray adaptedto engage said spring-controlled means so as to release said arm permitting said movable guard to be moved to its lowered'position, and a guard plate suspended back of the window,,so as to cooperate with anupright projection on said tray to prevent any access'totheinside of the window. I

. 3. In combination with. a bank-clerks window, a movable guard pivotally mounted infront of the window and provided with an arm, a spring-controlled means normallyengaging said arm to thereby hold'said guard in raised position, a movable tray having a slot disposed to engage said arm, and a cam on the bottom'of said tray adapted toengage said spring-controlled means so. as to release" said arm permitting said movable guard to be moved to its lowered position, and'a guard; plate suspended back of the window so as to cooperate with an upright projection on said tray to prevent any access to the inside of the window, and means for guiding said tray during its to and fro movement.

4. In combination with a bank-clerks window, a movable guard situated in front of said window and adapted to be raised and lowered, a guard plate suspended in the back of said window so as to project into the open space below the same, a, sliding member and means operatively connecting said member with said movable guard, spring-controlled means for securing said movable guard in its raised position and means on said sliding member for operating said spring-controlled means.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

CARL B. BORMANN. 

